Johnathon Williams's Avatar

Johnathon Williams

@johnofhousejohn

My dad got me a computer when I was 8 and everything that's happened since is plainly his fault. Building my WordPress plugin store in public. https://oddjar.com

44
Followers
36
Following
30
Posts
23.11.2024
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by Johnathon Williams @johnofhousejohn

My Global Search add-on for @gravityforms.com has just been updated to version 1.4.

And you can you get 40% off all licenses until Monday with code SAVE40SEARCH.

Search all your forms and entries at once.

oddjar.com/wordpress-pl...

13.12.2024 23:41 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

"So what's it like multitasking your #WordPress, #Laravel, #JavaScript, and #CSS projects all at once?"

๐Ÿค” #memes

12.12.2024 14:07 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The existential risk to WordPress isn't our drama -- it's that a sufficiently advanced AI chatbot is the end of commodity software.

Talk me out of this. Tell me I'm wrong. I just launched a plugin store. I want to be wrong.

07.12.2024 01:03 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

And your monthly AI bill will be much less than the cost of any combination of premium WP plugins.

We've had a lot of drama in our community recently, and one side effect has been to take our collective eye off the ball.

07.12.2024 01:03 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

But what happens when you can type your feature needs into a box at Replit (or some other AI) and get everything in one shot? Not just for a single plugin, but for the entire codebase plus your needed extra feature.

07.12.2024 01:02 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I'm worried that the main value proposition behind WordPress โ€” a lean but extensible open core โ€“ has been invalidated by AI.

In the past, this model encouraged rapid development by creating a marketplace for extensions (plugins) and developers.

07.12.2024 01:02 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Coding with AI For Noobs - The WP Minute In this fascinating conversation with Mark Szymanski, we dove into our evolving perspectives on AI tools, particularly in coding and content creation. What makes this discussion particularly interesti...

New! Coding with AI For Noobs w/ @mjs.bio

๐Ÿค– What AI tools are we using?
๐Ÿค– Why are we trying AI?
๐Ÿค– When do we get scared?

thewpminute.com/coding-with-...

02.12.2024 14:03 ๐Ÿ‘ 6 ๐Ÿ” 3 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I hope this was helpful! You can check out what I've been making at my plugin store:

oddjar.com

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Now, recommend a new way that you have not yet tried to solve this problem."

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

"Let's start over. Go step by step through my original requirements, and think carefully about how to fix this error. You are free to suggest more complicated solutions if they will solve this problem. Review your previous suggestions so that you don't repeat yourself.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

But before you start from scratch, try this last ditch prompt:

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

And remember, different AI models have different strengths. Trying another model can make all the difference.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Experienced coders can read the AI's output and suggest specifics as to where it went wrong, but if you're new to development, you might get there faster by loading a fresh session and starting again.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

5. Start over (with a different AI)

This can be particularly helpful for new developers who aren't familiar with PHP or javascript.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

- "Make sure your changes fit within the plugin's existing structure."
- "Make this change as conservatively as possible and take care not to break anything that already works."
- "Add this feature by making as few changes to my codebase as possible.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The second way is through prompting.

Once I get a plugin stable or at least the structure built out, I start adding prompts like this:

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

As you complete and test each feature, make sure to save a copy of the plugin โ€“ even if you're just duplicating the folder and dragging it away for safe keeping.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The first way to avoid this is to use some kind of version control. Version control doesn't have to be a full blown solution like Github, either.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Then, you ask for what you think is a simple change, and everything that was already working breaks.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

4. Protect your progress

Everyone coding with AI eventually hits the same wall. At first, your project is coming along fine. You're scratching features off your MVP list with a quickness and marveling at how useful your coding assistant is.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

3. Provide a list of no-nos

If you don't want your plugin to use jQuery, say so. If you don't want your plugin to use React, say so. If you hate the very sight of a node_modules folder, say so.

Can you tell how much I love javascript?

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Whenever possible, you use native APIs and methods within WordPress rather than creating them from scratch."

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

"You are an expert WordPress plugin developer. You follow WordPress best practices for creating secure, performant plugins that extend WordPress in novel ways. You format all code according to WordPress coding standards.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

2. Insist on standards

Front load your prompts with your expectations for code quality. My general starting point with WordPress plugins is this:

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

(Projects in Claude are great for saving documents like this for further use, as is the docs indexing feature in Cursor.)

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

WordPress has been around a while, which means there's a lot of outdated information in AI models. (Some of it is downright crusty). You can avoid this by uploading more recent docs from the Codex, or, even better, by uploading recent, well built plugins as examples.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

1. Provide recent documentation for what you're trying to build.

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Are you struggling to make WordPress plugins with AI?

I spent the last several months launching my first plugin shop with AI's help. Here are 5 lessons I learned (with prompts).

02.12.2024 19:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Autoblue - Easily add Bluesky to your WordPress site Autoblue automatically shares your posts to Bluesky, saving you valuable time and effort and engaging your audience.

Introducing Autoblue, my new WordPress plugin for Bluesky! ๐Ÿฆ‹

Autoblue will be available for download later this week, and allows you to automatically share your WordPress posts to Bluesky, and display likes and replies from Bluesky on your site.

autoblue.cc

(more in thread ๐Ÿงต)

25.11.2024 22:51 ๐Ÿ‘ 121 ๐Ÿ” 39 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 23 ๐Ÿ“Œ 11
Preview
Odd Jar - Premium WordPress Plugins with a Money-Back Guarantee Odd Jar offers quality WordPress plugins, including Global Search for Gravity Forms, Field Sync, Vloomp, and List Form Pages, all backed by a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Happy to announce my new WordPress plugin store is live.

Isn't it shiny?

Use code BLK24LAUNCH and save 30% off everything. But hurry. Sale ends next week.

Even if you're not shopping, stop by and let me know what you think!

oddjar.com

26.11.2024 23:11 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0